If there were better high school quarterbacks in Georgia before Eric Zeier came along in 1989, they didn't have the full package of throwing talent, offensive scheme and recruiting hype to go with it. Or Zeier might simply have been the most advanced high school quarterback the state had seen by the time he left Marietta High.
As the well-known story goes, Zeier played his first two years of high school football in Heidelberg, Germany, where his father was a U.S. Army colonel. His family, upon moving to Georgia, did some homework before picking Marietta and coach Dexter Wood, who would build his offense around his new star.
In his two seasons as a Blue Devil, Zeier threw for 4,502 yards and 50 touchdowns. He was the consensus No. 1 quarterback prospect in the nation, a first-team USA Today All-America and Super Prep magazine's national player of the year.
Zeier wasn't the first blue-chip quarterback to come out of Georgia. The names of Billy Ray, Vince Sutton and Charlie Dudish come to mind. But none before him lived up to it like Zeier, who went on to Georgia and left there as the SEC's all-time leader in passing yards (11,153).
Here are GHSF Daily's choices as the best players in the history of current Region 3-AAAAAAA schools.
*Hillgrove: Kenyan Drake (2011)
*Kennesaw Mountain: Jay Finch (2008)
*Marietta: Eric Zeier (1990)
*McEachern: A.J. Suggs (1998)
*North Cobb: Eric Norwood (2005)
*North Paulding: Chris Conley (2010)
Best player in school history series
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